My last Beer Guide pub in Cambridgeshire turned out to be a small joy, just as completing your home county before September is out is a joy. Take note Simey BRAPA Man. 20 years into Beer Guide ticking, you reach a point where there aren’t quite so many return trips into darkest Fenland annually, each… Continue reading ELGOODS – A HOME WIN
Month: September 2016
SEPTEMBER STOCKTAKE
The month that began with wailing and gnashing of teeth over non-delivery of the new Beer Guide ended with some revelatory trips to Nuneaton, Luton and Stevenage. Decent walking weather in the main, and a couple of glorious days in Halifax and Manchester while it bucketed down in the South. The sun shines on… Continue reading SEPTEMBER STOCKTAKE
THE GREAT NORTHERN – A TRIBUTE TO LUTON
Or, Luton gets the basics right In February I gave (I hope) an affectionate account of Luton‘s unchanging appeal, never better captured than in the attractive Irish pubs, real ale or not. Many of those along Hitchin Road are long gone, victims of repressive legislation in 2007 and the emergence of “home entertainment”. A few… Continue reading THE GREAT NORTHERN – A TRIBUTE TO LUTON
THE SUN, PICKERING
I could have lumped this one in with Cropton, but I reckon the Sun deserves some attention of it’s own. A definite Top 100 pub contender. It was certainly the highlight of a quick walk round Pickering, a town that suffers from the A170 steaming through it. The High Street was set back, but scarcely more… Continue reading THE SUN, PICKERING
NEW INN, CROPTON BREWERY TOUR OVERNIGHTER
When I retired I received one of those Red Letter vouchers with a choice of activities involving near brushes with death (go-carting, parachuting, prosecco tasting etc). They should add some really scary things like “Taking your pint back in the Charlie Chaplin” Our power boating trip on the Thames was a highlight of the year… Continue reading NEW INN, CROPTON BREWERY TOUR OVERNIGHTER
STEVENAGE NEW TOWN. AND GREENE KING.
Folk who just track down interesting beers and classic pubs miss out on a lot. Simon goes to Hoyland, which even people in Barnsley have never visited. I get a trip “home” to Stevenage to tick off a Greene King pub. Retirement is underrated. Stevenage is, of course, best known as the stunt double for Slough… Continue reading STEVENAGE NEW TOWN. AND GREENE KING.
ONE GEM AT LEAST IN THE CITY OF LONDON
You might deduce from this blog that that I don’t much care for that London place, and you’d be half right, you’d be half right*. If the town itself is a 9/10, and the pubs an 8, it’s only the beer that’s a 5 and lets it all down. Each year when the Beer Guide… Continue reading ONE GEM AT LEAST IN THE CITY OF LONDON
HOW TO SURVIVE WHITBY
We popped to Whitby, reckoning a blustery Saturday at the end of September would see us safe from both holiday hordes and the groups of Goths that always turn up in Mr Everitt’s tales. It was heaving. The busiest place I’ve seen since St Ives at Easter or York’s Shambles in Summer. Apparently there’s a themed weekend… Continue reading HOW TO SURVIVE WHITBY
TETLEY HERITAGE IN MALTON
On our way to a brewery break in Cropton we stopped at Malton for a last bit of Wi-Fi quiche before entering the Moors. The big news in Malton is Brass Castle’s cutting edge bar, but we fancied coffee and Battenburg cake in the Spotted Cow in Malton. It’s a Tetley Heritage Inn, which is still generally a… Continue reading TETLEY HERITAGE IN MALTON
NECTAR IN NUNEATON
Every 11th Thursday is curry night, when two middle-aged codgers from the east of England meet up in obscure parts of the Midlands to enjoy pubs and Indian restaurants. It’s a simple formula, only faltering slightly when I book rooms at a complete dump on the A5. Sorry Charles. The pub at the motel was… Continue reading NECTAR IN NUNEATON
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